Fireproof wall board



April 25, 1933- J. A. WIENER Er AL l FIREPRooF WALL BOARD Filed May 5, 1932 ded wood APatentedv Apr. 25, '1933 UNITED srATas P.ak-rau,'11

:emr ,n.rwmm AND Jenn n. nunon; or oswneo; vonxl Application 'fled Hay 5,

. This` invention relates to the manufacture of wood-liber wall covering, designed to supplant the ordinary lath-and-plaster finish for -Walls of dwellings and other buildings, and

5 has particular reference to fireproof wall board and the method-of roducing the same. The primary object oi) my method is the production'of single-ply'boards or sheets in which the redminant constituent is shredfiber, that may bemanufactured at relativelyilow cost and yield highly eiicient insulating and sound-deadening qualities, with which may be incorporated, during the process of-manufacture, certain non-metallic,

mineral binding elements, lpreferably of micaceous natureor origin, to bond and harden as well as to'render the boards ireproof. The processgnay be initiated by takin from 60 to 70 pounds of prepared wood 2 pu p that possesses generally the characteristics of the fibrous wallboard product de' scribed in United StatesPatent No. 1,831,940, dated Nov. .17, 1931.v This product is prefer ably fed, together with 'a'. certain amount of water, into an ordinary stock or 'pulping chest to be beaten or agitated in order to separat? all of the matted `fibers'.- A further ste the process is to admx with the wood ber from 25 to.35 pounds of vermiculite that has 30 been heated, dried and exfoliated, for example, by the Zonolite process, and thereafter crushed or otherwise reducedv torelatively small flakes or particles such as may be passed through screens of from, 30 to 40 mesh. This finely broken up vermiculte is preferably mixed separately though concurrently, with an amount of water sulcient to Aforma viscous or pasty mass, which is im.

rmEraoorvwALL Bom 1932. serial' im.V 609.424.-

moisture-'content is entirely dispersed,.sand the exfoliation and expansion 'ofglthe vermiculitebinder vis effected, has .been found to v be highly advantageous ,tothe reduction of the said binderto the viscous state-preparatoryto its incorporation with the'wood pulp,v by the herein described process, and greatly facilitates the production" of .a :thoroughly fireproof bonded and lasting'. .wall fioard which is characterized by its'extremely light weightand its non-liability to expansion, con-f traction or warping, both before and after the boards 4 are fixed to thefw'alls,

.The Anext step'lin the process consists of reducing the coarser wood fibers to a still finer state, after-which the reined .stock is sub?l proofing, ofthe combustible fibrouscontent jected to final beating', agitatingand fire-v of the'boards. The finished stock may .then *I beY delivered to any suitable-forming machine to be converted into boards or sheets l ready to be dried and otherwise seasoned and cured. The drying out of the boards afterthe mold ing is preferably accomplished by passing.l v

them through a highly-heated oven, which effects the evaporation of any residue of lmoisture in the fiber and vermiculite binder, and 'elfectsthe lasting bonding of the boards.

This gina] heating ofthe wall boards constitutes an` important and essential 'step of the process, since iti-has for itseobject' the dispersing of all moisture inorder to insure uniform strength and consistency in all parts of the boards. This drying out, however, renders the boards liable to warp and expand when they are again exposed to the at;

mosphere. effect will be appreciated when itis under-A stood that the normal atmospherein a plannt or storage'room contains a variable amount This danger and its deleterious of/humidity or moisture, which may be communicated to the walljb'oard-the -sameas to other absorbent substances after'aY short ex- -posure. Thisbeing a ,natural phenomena, the thoroughly dried' wall boards begin absorbing the moisture lfrom the air immediately following their discharge from the driers and injurious warping results. To obviate this trouble, I have added still another stepto my'process whichfconsistsl of 10o 35 duits 3 to a collector 4, i

immediately passing the warm boards over 1 aseries'of vats which are filled with diluted silicate of sodium, or with a liquor prepared from .thec vermiculite, by which treatment,

5 upwards of 10% moisture is restored to the boards before theya're placed in storage.` This moisture is applied to the opposite sides` of the boards sequentially, the diluted silicate not only suitably moisteningthe boards, 110 but also providing eiiicient sizing for subsequent painting or plastering of the walls. Wall boards treated to this artificial moisten- Ying thereafter retain their sha evand size inaddition to being rendered reproof to a greater degree. v f

In carrying out this process, plant is naturally required, and in order that this description may be more clearly understood, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, ingwhch is diagrammatlical-ly shown the progressive steps of the process, andjn vwhichs---y-- Figure 1's a diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus. And Fig."2 is a side elevation of the same.

By thepresent method, boardshmaybe formed which can almost immediately be applied to the 4wallsof buildings without requiring anyprolongedor special seasoning or curing. 7

In the drawing, 2 represents conventional- 'A lyaJ series of pulp -shredding or deberizing vmachines, from whichkthe pulp may be drawn by suction' fans 3,that liti:l the bers via conwhich the matted Vbers are separated` by strong convulsive cur-l rents created by said fan. Water may applied tothe separated bers by means"of apipe 4', which preferably enters the lower" 40 portion of the collector, and may beaccu- -rately controlled and measured by a cock, as 4a, carried by the latter pipe. From the collector 4, the sepa-rated andmoistened -ibers gravitate via a lspout 4b into an .ordinary stock-chest` as 5, the latter being ,equipped with` a plurality of rotary agitator-s 5, which effect the continuous circulating, beating and mixing of Isaid pulp.

lThe vermiculite is preferably supplied in finely broken up state tov a hopper 6, that discharges this reproong and bonding ingredientinto a Wormer-other suitable conveyor 7, wherein the vermiculite'is mixed with water supplied by a pipenl equipped with a; `cock 6a and reduced to a viscousor pasty state.y lTheconvleyor 7 may be rotated by Aa f belt-and-.pulley drive 7 whichv carries the viscid product towards the pulping chest 5 where it becomes thoroughly mixed with the woodfibers by the agitators 5. By treating the vermiculite in the conveyor7, the prod-j uct is characterized by an inherent sliminess or -soapines`s, which has the advantage of Areadily adheringto the solid wood bers, 55 upon which the vermiculite forms an ena suitable veloping lm or coat which laterrenders the v `fibers reproof. This adhering quality of the pasty vermiculite also facilitates 'the effectual bonding of the bers of the sheets or boards when the latter are molded under relatively great pressure and afterwards suitably dried. The complete enveloping of the separated wood bers with the sticky vermiculite greatly heightens the insulating'and sound-deadening e''ect upon walls covered 75 by said boards. My improved waterproofed and sized' wall boards may be lpainted the same as natural wood, or said boards niay be .treated with`a light skim coat of lime or other putty, if deslred.

The ber employed in the manufacture of my reproof wall board may be obtained very cheaply by the' reclaiming and utilizing of the unmarketable waste products of paper `mills as well as the relatively great brous waste of sawmills and the like. y l `Alfter the composite mass,comprising lthe wood bers and the vermiculite, has been primarily agitated in the chest 5, as explained, the said mass is next passed through a series of refiners, as 8', by a-punip 8, whichreduces the'heavier or coarser bers to a still finer state, and from which the rened product preferably ows by .gravity into .a second stock-chest, as 9, forcompletingthe conditioning of the stock. I This finished stock may then be delivered by a pump 10( to any suitable Wet-end machine, or press, as 10, to be formed into sheets or boards, as A, which are immediately passed sthrough a drying press, iis-12, which dispersas the' residue of moisture content. The thoroughly dried out boards are then passed over a vat '13 containing. about soluble glass and 30% water that remoistens one side of, the boards, and in or.- der to accomplish this, said vat is'equipped with. a driven roller 13", which is preferably covered with felt for applying evenly a coating 'of lthe glass to the underside during the transit of the boards This vat is also provided with a press roll 13a that traverses the top face andl serves with roll 13 as a conveyor for the boards. From the vat 13, the boards A aretransported by belt vconveyors 14, towards a reversing reel 15,which comprises a shaft'15 and end and medial radial fingers or spokes 15a,1whichvrotate between the latter conveyors and in regular sequences pick up, reverse and deposit the boards by gravity bottom side upwards in the' plane of asecond vat l3c,.\which applies aL similar coating of the. sizin` to the unmoistened face of the boards. rom the latter vat, the boards may be transported by suitable nieans to the place of storage. ,Y f l The transit of the boards A through the .Fourdrinier machine or/ pressA 10 and thence through the drier, and the sizing -and moistening machines 13-13cis' necessarily governed by the duration of ldrying intervals, but

- lighter non-combustible wall board may be produced by substituting finely ground micaY when the boards are finally discharged from the aforesaid machines, they still contain enough warmth to carry the moistenin agent substantially throughout the area an depth of the board.

A satisfactory but'somewhat cheaper and for the vermiulite, the mica preferably be ing primarily mixed with the wood bersand a suitable quantityof Water in the chests 5 and 9 and thereafter treated by the machines 10, 12, 13 and`13c, as described.

Having thus described our-invention', what 4 we claim, is-

' 1. The hereindescrbed process of making.

wallboards, which resides in conveying ver. miculite from a source of supply, supplying a -fiuid to the vermiculite at its said source, t 'en in mixingV the vermipulite and uid with pulp y at a point remote from the said source of supwall boards, which resides in conveying verA ply of the .vermiculite and during conveying mixing the vermiculite with said fluid to render same viscous, then refining the mass and forming same Ain sheets.

2. The hereinde'scribed process of making miculite from a source ofvsupply, supplying a,

Y yfiuid to the vermiculite at its sald source, then in mixing the vermiculite and fluid with pulp at a point remote from the said source of sup; ply of the -vermiculite and during conveying. A Y mixing the vermiculite with said fluid to render same viscous, ,then 1n vrefining the mass, Y then' in again agitatin `ing same in sheets. 5 3. yThe hereindescrib'ed process o f 'wally boards, which resides in .conveying a imicaceous material from a source of supply,

supplying a uid to the micaceous material 1 at its said source, then. in mixing the micaceous material and fluid with remote from the said sourcero conveying mxi the Amicaceousv material with said fluid toren er same viscous, then 'in refining Ythe` mass and forming same 1n sheets. In testimony"whereoff we'aivx. our signa'- tures. f

' JOHN A. WIENER.

the mass, and formpulp at a pointy supply of the micaceous material and durin 

